Maverick Viñales was one of the big stars of this Friday in Barcelona. Not because of his direct access into the Q2 and a 6th time, but because he ended up in Francesco Bagnaia's fall at the end of FP1, despite of himself. In fact, Pecco was about to brake at Turn 1 at low speed after a not very successful start, when he was overtaken on the outside by the Aprilia rider, who gripped the brake, and fell. A fall in which there was contributory negligence on behalf of the Ducati rider.
"In my opinion, it's not about who's at fault. In the end, when you attempt a start, you get to the first corner trying to release the shape shifter, and you brake late. I saw that Pecco was very slow in the middle of the track, and I didn't know why. I tried to avoid him by going on the outside and left the space for two bikes. I didn't pass too close to him," Maverick commented, narrating his version of the events. "When I saw the fall, I thought that I had maybe touched him. But, then, I saw the replay, and there was a lot of space. I guess maybe he got scared, grabbed the front brake, and locked the front wheel. It was crazy but, for me, it was an accident. Sometimes things like that happen. It was nothing. Pecco didn't expect me to pass him on the outside? How could've I passed him on the inside?"
Putting aside the accident, the Spanish rider talked about his potential before the weekend's two races.
"Could I beat Aleix? I don't know, but I'll definitely try! My goal is to try to beat them all, but I don't know. He was fast today and was a bit better in terms of pace. But that's not my primary goal, which is to get the most I can from the bike. And if Aleix got ahead of me, that means I didn't do that," he admitted. "It's always like that. You have to be the first on your team, and then try to go even further. But Aleix is fast here and so is his bike."
The RS-GP seemed quite close to its Ducati rivals on the Catalan track, but Top Gun doesn't want to make predictions about his chances of beating the Desmosedicis.
"I wish I could, but I don't know. If we look at the situation today, I could say I could fight with them. But it's always the same story. Let's see tomorrow, because I don't know what progress they'll make," he explained.
According to his teammate, Espargaró, the Sprint should be the most favorable hunting ground for Aprilia in trying to end the year with a victory.
"Obviously, the main race is the important one. I don't know, though. It's important to be focused in all the sessions, then try to get the best possible result," Viñales commented. "It's already good to be able to be in the Q2 since Friday, because this track is very treacherous, especially in the morning when it's cold. We can take it easy, since we got in, and we already have some ideas to really go to the limit in qualifying. We'll see where we'll be. Today, we managed to stay in the top three, but we'll have to push even harder tomorrow."